Hundreds of job cuts at Wal-Mart

Thursday, October 01, 2015 - 00:58

The world's largest retailer plans to cut fewer than 500 jobs at its Arkansas headquarters, sources say. Fred Katayama reports.

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Jobs cuts looming at Wal-Mart. Sources say the world's largest retailer will announce as early as Friday that it'll lay off hundreds of people at its Arkansas headquarters. Workers afraid of losing their jobs have been flooding recruiting firms with resumes.
Wal-Mart would not comment. The cuts - expected to be fewer than 500 - are a small percentage of its staff of 18,000.
But it's part of CEO Doug McMillon's drive to cut costs. Wal-Mart has been increasing wages for half- a million workers at its stores. Those costs, combined with a stronger dollar, hurt its quarterly profit and forced the company to sharply cut its earnings forecast for the year. Wal-Mart is also spending more on training in its bid to improve customer service.
Investors sent Wal-Mart shares lower at the start of trading. The stock has fallen nearly 25 percent this year, vastly underperforming that of its rivals, Amazon and Target.

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